Into the Woods Manila Reviews (Part 2)
Female Network, which represents all the Summit Media magazines for women, such as Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping and Marie Claire, has this to say about Into the Woods Manila, “The fact that this is a Sondheim musical already earns merits for NVC, as Into the Woods is famous for its difficult melody and syncopated speech. Thankfully, the NVC cast has risen to the expectation, especially Michael Williams as the Baker, Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo as the Baker’s Wife, and Lynn Sherman as the Witch. Michael and Menchu made the “It Takes Two” duet sweet and endearing, and Menchu brought the house down with her no-nonsense, hilarious delivery of “Moments in the Woods.” Meanwhile, Lynn Sherman’s overprotective Witch earned my sympathies with her lament for Rapunzel’s death in Act II.”
Here’s a couple out of the 8 reasons enumerated by Anton Diaz of Our Awesome Planet as to Why You Should Watch Into the Woods, “1. To see why Into the Woods was a winner of three Tony Awards - including Best Book and Best Score and has produced a Grammy award-winning album. 2. To rave about Julia Abueva’s performance (who is only 11 years old) as the Little Red Riding Hood. In fact, I think she deserves the best performance award for that show. I regret not watching her in Children’s Letters To God, a musical.”
The irrepressible Lauren Dado of Laurganism wrote adamantly, “I was ready to go home and crash by the time the characters were prancing about on stage being all in-your-face about getting what they wanted. But the real retelling begins at Act Two; the plot becomes far more sinister as our fairy tale heroes suffer the treachery of their deepest desires. As though the cast members were saving their energy, everyone’s performances picked up and I got wowed off my seat by their powerful musical monologues, especially Lynn Sherman’s (The Witch) rendition of The Last Midnight.”
Web and Mobile producer Sharline Bareng of Amehanashi observed, “Unlike most fairy tales, though, Into the Woods is not about good versus evil. I had no idea whom to root for while I was watching because most of the characters were quite ambivalent. Sure, there’s the witch who is always the evil one, but in the end, all she wants is to protect Rapunzel from the outside world. The Baker and his wife have always wanted a child, but will have to trick some people to lift the curse set upon them. There’s the typical Prince Charming, who’s supposed to be everything a prince is but actually isn’t, so boohoo for Cinderella for marrying a cad. More than anything, Into the Woods questions the “what’s next” after someone finally gets what he’s always wanted, which, well, has happened to me already, career-wise (okay, let’s stop there. There’s such a thing as too much information).”
Oats Tiu of Gravity Rulz enthusiastically wrote in her Live Journal, “I loved the cast. I loved the lyrics. I loved the script. I loved the white cow on wheels. I loved Little Red Riding Hood’s outfit (especially when she ditched the red cape and donned a leather jacket instead *HAWT!*). But most of all, I loved Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo. She is by far the best actor on that stage that night. And she is unbelievably beautiful too. Her voice was simply radiant. And despite the venue’s terrible sound system, I enjoyed every scene with her in it…more than the others (sorry guys!).”
Related Posts
Into the Woods Manila Reviews (Part 1)
Into the Woods Manila Philippines FAQs
Meet the Cast of Into the Woods Manila
Nail Art Printing at Max in Pink Salon— Into the Woods Theme
Avenue Q & Into the Woods & High School Musical — Best of Theater 2007
I agree. The sound system was awful. But who cares? Haha! The actors managed to do a fantastic job in the play. Lauchengco-Yulo, Azanza, and Williams were my favorites. I loved the songs, the lyrics, and the material. Hope the set and the stage was bigger though.
There was also a technical problem about sa recorded voice of the giant. Sayang. Oh well. I’m watching it again on Dec 8. Hope their last show would be a better one.
:) 
Raul: Yeah, I mentioned that in my blog about the giant’s voice suddenly booming out “thank you” in the middle of a sad scene. *bwahaha* That was hilarious! Bloomer material.
Lorna: Coolness! You quoted my review. Now that’s fun stuff.
Hi Raul and anybody who’s interested,
For the Dec 7 & 8 Into the Woods shows, please call New Voice at 896.5497 for tickets
And, Oats, I just had to quote your enthusiastic response
Ack! I just realized I typed in “bloomer” instead of BLOOPER. *bonks head*
Thanks so much again, Lorna. I’m looking forward to whatever new musical there is out there that’ll find their way to Manila.
Also, I know there’s the December showing of Avenue Q…but by chance you think they’ll bring them back again sometime next year? I’d like my mom to catch it because she’ll be missing the December ones.
Oh yeah, and is there any probability that they’ll come out with a Manila cast recording of Into the Woods and Avenue Q? My friend in New York (who I look for when it comes to all things musical) was asking me about it.
Sorry for all the questions, Lorna. I think I’m still giddy over the musicals I was able to watch this year. *haha*
Hi Oats,
I thought you coined the word Bloomer as a kinder version of the word Blooper.
Depending if there’s a clamor for more shows, Avenue Q can always have a rerun, but FYI, Atlantis didn’t include it in their 2008 season. I think they’re adding more Avenue Q shows in Dec though.
Re the cast recordings of Avenue Q and Into the Woods, although that would be great, that would also involve a lot of payments for rights, etc. And both Atlantis and New Voice have made no announcements regarding the matter.
Glad you’re still giddy…
Hello bachelorgirl,
This is the link to my own review of “Into The Woods”: http://3xhcch.multiply.com/journal/item/137/Going_Into_the_Woods
Thank you for the info you have provided on your blogs.
Fred
Hi Fred,
Thank you so much for the review.
And re the info, you’re very welcome. I’m very glad it was useful in helping you make an informed decision. It was very nice to know that your 8yo daughter wanted to watch till the very end.
Regards,
TheBachelorGirl